UPDATED: Speedway is to return to the Isle of Wight next year as the Wightlink Warriors are accepted into the National League for 2016.
At the annual general meeting of the league today (Wednesday), it was announced that Barry Bishop’s and Martin Widman’s vision of bringing high-speed action back to Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde will become a reality.
Smallbrook is said to be one of the biggest speedway tracks in the country and is arguably one of the best, but the no-brakes racing came to an end on the Island at the end of the 2013 season.
Things look set to return bigger and better with National League racing within just a few months and a vision to return to Premier League racing within a couple of years. Race nights will shift from the traditional Tuesday to a Thursday evening.
At their height, the then-named Wightlink Islanders were topping the Premier League and produced world class riders including Chris Holder, who went on to become the 2012 world champion. The Island team has always been a starting point for many top-flight riders including Davey Watt, Adam Shields and Adam Ellis.
UPDATE @ 18:50 – The Warriors’ Director of Operations, Martin Widman has this evening enthused:
“I’m absolutely delighted that the Wight Warriors have been accepted back into the National League which justifies all the hard work put in over the last two years, supported by loyal supporters on the Island and then with my business partner Barry.
“It has been an incredibly difficult two years for me personally with some real ups and downs, but all along the way I have been encouraged by the support both on and off the Island which has given us the strength to keep going.
Article continues below this advertisement “I would like to thank the NL promoters for having faith in our plans to reintroduce speedway back on the Island and with this decision, the management team can now push ahead with even more plans to ensure a positive outcome next year. Speedway on the Island is moving into a new era and we intend to be innovative in pushing speedway to the top of the Islands entertainment attractions as well as involving the local community in what the stadium has to offer.”
With the Warriors now in the league, the team building starts and with many riders already signed up for teams the race is on.
Commercial Director Barry Bishop said:
“I’m thrilled, stoked, blown away and ready all in one emotion. We’ve made it and acceptance to the 2016 National League is a huge result for everyone who has been involved in this project. No one should under estimate the amount of work that has been achieved to earn this result and I would like to thank Martin, our fellow NL Promoters, Neil Vatcher, our sponsors, team Warrior, the media and the people from the Isle of Wight for getting us here.
“Now we start to team build, finalise our team off the track, expand our commercial sponsors and begin in earnest to prepare for the season. I cannot wait.”
